Sad Guitar Songs

As Bernie Taupin once wrote and Elton John sang, the sad songs say so much, don’t they? There probably isn’t a guitar player on the planet that hasn’t at some point been in the mood to play a mournful ballad, or strum a tender melody of loss and regret.

On the other hand, there’s Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven”. Of all the sad guitar songs in history, none quite jerk the heartstrings like the petulant child of “Tears”. Personally, you’d have to pay me a large sum of money – think six figures – to sit through Clapton’s Unplugged performance of the song, let alone actually play the damn thing myself. While I’m a big fan of sad guitar songs, there’s a line I’m not willing to cross, and “Tears” is that line.

* The original Leonard Cohen version is also very sweet and very easy to play, but you really must hear Buckley’s version.
* Yes, I know this is not a guitar song per se, but it’s one of the most beautifully sad songs ever recorded and you should be familiar with it, even if you hate the Beach Boys.

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